Matthew Crownover

Published: Wednesday, March 6, 2013 at 10:23 p.m.

Last Modified: Wednesday, March 6, 2013 at 10:23 p.m.

CLEMSON — The two longtime friends and former teammates converged for one of Wednesday's key at-bats with Clemson's Steven Duggar getting the best of Wofford's Josh Simpson in a battle of talented freshmen.

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Union County product Simpson took the mound with two runners on and one out in the fifth and allowed the Byrnes product to smack a 2-0 fastball off the top of the center field wall for a two-run double during Clemson's 9-2 victory.

The ball missed leaving the stadium by mere inches as Duggar's third and fourth RBIs of the game provided a 6-1 lead. Duggar and Simpson played a few years of summer ball together and the former was anticipating getting to face his old pal.

“I had a feeling coming into the game knowing he was over there and it's always fun when you compete against friends you've grown up with,” said Duggar, who was moved from second to fifth in the order in hopes of getting increased chances with runners on. “I saw him coming out of the pen and said I've got to get a hit right here and he left a fastball up.”

They weren't the only former Upstate prep stars doing their thing on the big stage as Woodruff product Josh Hyman continued his remarkable early season hitting. The junior right fielder collected three of Wofford's six hits with a single, double and homer in raising his average to .460 including 11 extra-base hits in 50 plate appearances.

“I said to our assistant coaches after he hit the home run just how comfortable he looks up there,” Wofford coach Todd Interdonato said. “When a guy is comfortable in the batter's box it just seems like the game slows down for him a little bit and he's getting good pitches to hit and just not missing them.”

Hyman laced a first-inning double into the left field corner, but Matthew Kraskow, who reached on a game-opening error, was thrown out at the plate. Hyman crushed his second home run of the season deep into the left field seats during his second at-bat.

“It's definitely fun right now and with baseball you know you're going to have your ups and downs and I'm going to try and ride this up as long as I can,” Hyman said. “We always enjoy getting the opportunity to play against the Clemson's and the (South) Carolina's and we try to take advantage and play a good, competitive game.

“We just couldn't put a couple of good at-bats back to back and had a couple of guys just a little out of synch today. That just wasn't typical Wofford baseball and hopefully we'll get right moving forward.”

Wofford cut the deficit to 6-2 in the top of the sixth before the Tigers put it out of reach with a three-run seventh. Shane Kennedy singled home one run with the bases loaded and one batter later freshman catcher Matt Reed doubled to deep center for two more runs.

Kennedy went 3-for-3 with a walk, two runs scored and three RBIs while teammate Jay Baum was also 3-for-3 with two runs scored. Duggar was 1-for-2 with a walk, sacrifice fly and career-high four RBIs. The first five hitters in Clemson's lineup were a combined 10-for-13 with six walks, nine runs scored and seven RBIs.

“We got some big hits with men on base and made some pretty decent adjustments for the different types of pitching we saw all day long,” Clemson coach Jack Leggett said. “We've had some ups and a few downs so far, but we're getting there. We've just got to start hitting and get our mojo going offensively and I think our defense and pitching is pretty good. That will keep us in ballgames and we've just got to get the offense going.”

Clemson freshman lefty Matthew Crownover allowed one run on three hits over five innings for his first collegiate win in his second start before Patrick Andrews went three innings of strong relief. Wofford starter Dominick Del Monte walked three consecutive batters in the first, including one for a run, but battled out of the inning and regained his composure in going 4 1/3 and allowing three runs on four hits. The Terriers utilized seven pitchers with only Del Monte going more than one inning.

“I thought (Del Monte) did a good job of damage control and that first inning definitely could've blown up on him,” Interdonato said. “He settled in nice and started doing some good things and overall I thought he kept them at bay more so than it looked. When we started going to the pen Clemson did a good job of not missing pitches when they were ahead in the count.”

<p>CLEMSON — The two longtime friends and former teammates converged for one of Wednesday's key at-bats with Clemson's Steven Duggar getting the best of Wofford's Josh Simpson in a battle of talented freshmen.</p><p>Union County product Simpson took the mound with two runners on and one out in the fifth and allowed the Byrnes product to smack a 2-0 fastball off the top of the center field wall for a two-run double during Clemson's 9-2 victory.</p><p>The ball missed leaving the stadium by mere inches as Duggar's third and fourth RBIs of the game provided a 6-1 lead. Duggar and Simpson played a few years of summer ball together and the former was anticipating getting to face his old pal.</p><p>“I had a feeling coming into the game knowing he was over there and it's always fun when you compete against friends you've grown up with,” said Duggar, who was moved from second to fifth in the order in hopes of getting increased chances with runners on. “I saw him coming out of the pen and said I've got to get a hit right here and he left a fastball up.”</p><p>They weren't the only former Upstate prep stars doing their thing on the big stage as Woodruff product Josh Hyman continued his remarkable early season hitting. The junior right fielder collected three of Wofford's six hits with a single, double and homer in raising his average to .460 including 11 extra-base hits in 50 plate appearances.</p><p>“I said to our assistant coaches after he hit the home run just how comfortable he looks up there,” Wofford coach Todd Interdonato said. “When a guy is comfortable in the batter's box it just seems like the game slows down for him a little bit and he's getting good pitches to hit and just not missing them.”</p><p>Hyman laced a first-inning double into the left field corner, but Matthew Kraskow, who reached on a game-opening error, was thrown out at the plate. Hyman crushed his second home run of the season deep into the left field seats during his second at-bat.</p><p>“It's definitely fun right now and with baseball you know you're going to have your ups and downs and I'm going to try and ride this up as long as I can,” Hyman said. “We always enjoy getting the opportunity to play against the Clemson's and the (South) Carolina's and we try to take advantage and play a good, competitive game. </p><p>“We just couldn't put a couple of good at-bats back to back and had a couple of guys just a little out of synch today. That just wasn't typical Wofford baseball and hopefully we'll get right moving forward.”</p><p>Wofford cut the deficit to 6-2 in the top of the sixth before the Tigers put it out of reach with a three-run seventh. Shane Kennedy singled home one run with the bases loaded and one batter later freshman catcher Matt Reed doubled to deep center for two more runs.</p><p>Kennedy went 3-for-3 with a walk, two runs scored and three RBIs while teammate Jay Baum was also 3-for-3 with two runs scored. Duggar was 1-for-2 with a walk, sacrifice fly and career-high four RBIs. The first five hitters in Clemson's lineup were a combined 10-for-13 with six walks, nine runs scored and seven RBIs.</p><p>“We got some big hits with men on base and made some pretty decent adjustments for the different types of pitching we saw all day long,” Clemson coach Jack Leggett said. “We've had some ups and a few downs so far, but we're getting there. We've just got to start hitting and get our mojo going offensively and I think our defense and pitching is pretty good. That will keep us in ballgames and we've just got to get the offense going.”</p><p>Clemson freshman lefty Matthew Crownover allowed one run on three hits over five innings for his first collegiate win in his second start before Patrick Andrews went three innings of strong relief. Wofford starter Dominick Del Monte walked three consecutive batters in the first, including one for a run, but battled out of the inning and regained his composure in going 4 1/3 and allowing three runs on four hits. The Terriers utilized seven pitchers with only Del Monte going more than one inning.</p><p>“I thought (Del Monte) did a good job of damage control and that first inning definitely could've blown up on him,” Interdonato said. “He settled in nice and started doing some good things and overall I thought he kept them at bay more so than it looked. When we started going to the pen Clemson did a good job of not missing pitches when they were ahead in the count.”</p>